


Under A Starlit Sky

by snowandlilacs



Series: QroWin Week 2018 [4]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 01:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14990108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowandlilacs/pseuds/snowandlilacs
Summary: Qrow isn't the biggest fan of Atlas or the cold, but Winter manages to convince him it's not all that bad.





	Under A Starlit Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Day four of qrowin week with the prompt 'Rendezvous/Meet Me.'

_17:00 precisely. Don’t be late._

Qrow scoffed at the message of directions and the implied demand. She was military to the core, and he doubted any sort of bad influence that he was on her would change that. Even so, he wasn’t about to complain. If the Ice Queen wanted to meet with him, then he would be there. But why their meeting point needed to be in the middle of the Atlesian wilderness was not something he understood.

As he arrived to the location she specified, however, Qrow was grateful to see that they wouldn’t just be standing out in the snow. There was a cabin, much to his surprise, and it looked like there was already a fire going. He was grateful that freezing to death wasn’t something he was at risk of today.

He walked up and gave a quick knock to the door, and took a step back as it opened and saw Winter looking adorably cozy. Not that he would say that.

“Care to let me in?”

Qrow watched as Winter looked at the time on her scroll and back at him. 

“I am impressed. You managed to be early for once.”

He had cut it close on time, but when he had to fly out to the middle of nowhere, would she really have held it against him for being late? Regardless, she allowed him to enter and he shook off the snow and removed his coat while stomping off the snow stuck to his shoes.

“You could have told me some more specifics. That or we could have come out here together.”

It would have been a nice little trip, in his mind. Time to venture out into the cold together. Talking, spending time with each other. Why hadn’t she asked him to come with her in the first place?

“It takes time for a vacant cabin to warm up, and I know how you don’t like being cold.”

Winter had a point. Even so, that meant that she had been in the cold alone. At least they could have offered each other warmth.

“That, and I’ve been out here for a few days,” she added.

Now that was surprising. It wasn’t often that Winter took time off of work for no reason.

“Did something happen?”

A small shake of her head had him frowning. Qrow didn’t really believe it when it was so out of character for her, but pressing the issue was probably not wise. That and he really did want to sit by the fire and warm up rather than have a conversation by the door.

“Go sit down,” Winter told him. “I’ll make you some coffee.”

She didn’t need to tell him twice. After removing his shoes, Qrow made his way over to the couch set near the fireplace and grabbed the discarded blanket that he assumed Winter was using prior to his arrival. However, rather than sit on the couch, he took a seat on the floor in front of it to stretch out his legs and be closer to the warmth of the fire. 

It was a cozy little spot. 

Hearing Winter’s footsteps as she made her way over, Qrow lifted his head to look at her and took the offered mug. The heat was almost too much for his hands, but he held on anyway. He wasn’t about to let go of the warmth seeping back into his hands. 

A few moments passed in silence and he had to admit it was nice to just sit there and listen to the crackling of the fire. Taking a gulp of coffee, he set it aside once his hands were warm enough to move easily and he tilted his head back to look at Winter who took up a spot on the couch.

“So...why all the way out here?”

“I’ll show you later.”

He didn’t like waiting games, but the small, serene smile on her face kept him from arguing against that. If anything, he didn’t want to ruin her happiness out here.

“Alright then. This is a little place, is there a bedroom or…?”

“This is it. Well, there’s a small bathroom behind the door over there, but the couch pulls out into a bed if we need it.”

Qrow never thought he would see a day when a Schnee willingly stayed in such a place. Then again, that was his old view of the Schnee family. Winter had been full of surprises from the start. Maybe she was the exception. That or she was more like the stories he heard about her grandfather. Whatever it was, he wasn’t going to complain.

He _really_ wasn’t going to complain. Winter decided to run a hand through his hair and Qrow hummed and closed his eyes while enjoying the moment. It wasn’t often that the Ice Queen melted and acted loving. 

“If you’re going to end up falling asleep, maybe you should actually get on the couch rather than the floor.”

Cracking an eye open, Qrow looked up at her and smirked. 

“Was that an invitation to join you?” he joked. 

The roll of her eyes told him, no, it wasn’t. Oh well, no harm in trying.

“You can get in a nap and warm up. I can make something for us for dinner.”

He raised a brow at her. Was she going to cook? He looked at the small kitchen space and back to her, only to notice the annoyed look she was giving him.

“It was going to be something simple. Sandwiches, if you’re concerned I’ll poison you.”

Qrow couldn’t help but to laugh, but he grabbed her free hand and kissed it in a form of apology. They both knew that she wasn’t the best in a kitchen, and it seemed she took his silence as an insult to her pride.

“That sounds great,” he told her. “Is that all you’ve been eating out here?”

Winter pulled her hand free from his and stood to move back toward the kitchen. This time he rolled his eyes. Was she annoyed? Or just not answering for dramatic effect? Either way there was no need to draw it out.

“I brought other food with me that I’ve reheated over the last few days, if you must know.”

At least she wasn’t just eating sandwiches—or nothing at all—while she was in the middle of nowhere. Sure, she could take care of herself, but he also knew that work could distract her, even if it was just stuff she was answering on her scroll.

“Just get a couple minutes of rest for now and warm up,” she told him.

While staying up and pestering her was always fun, Qrow was inclined to listen. The blanket and fireplace did provide a comfortable warmth that he couldn’t help but to enjoy. That and it had been a bit of a trip all the way out here. 

He yawned and gave a hum of agreement as he pulled the blanket around him. Qrow doubted he would actually doze off. Winter made quiet noise in the kitchen, and he could almost catch the quiet tune she hummed to herself.

This was nice.

A hand brushing through his hair again caused him to blink and look around confused. He realized he fell asleep, but wasn’t sure if it was just for a few minutes or hours.

“Hey there, Ice Queen,” he rasped from sleep. “How long did ya let me sleep for?”

“You weren’t out for long, don’t worry. Though your coffee is probably starting to get cold.”

He had forgotten it on the floor beside the couch, but lukewarm coffee wasn’t exactly the worst thing he ever had.

“Here,” she said while handing him a plate, “you should eat something.”

While he probably shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Qrow was curious why Winter was doing all of this. He wasn’t forgetting something, was he?

“So...why all the trouble for all of this?”

“Are you aware of the time of year it is?”

Okay, so he was forgetting something, but what?

“Uh...not our anniversary, that was a few months ago.”

The look that Winter gave him made it obvious that she wasn’t talking about that. Good. He was glad he hadn’t forgotten that bit of information.

“Unless you’re looking for the exact season or date, which you can find on your scroll, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

A sigh of exasperation came from her.

“Then you will see soon. First, however, you should eat.”

Not wanting to get on Winter’s bad side and ruin whatever this surprise seemed to be, Qrow did as he was told. Sure, a sandwich and some chips wasn’t exactly what most would call a proper dinner, but he wasn’t about to complain. Clearly she was trying for his sake, and he appreciated it.

“A’right, since ya won’ tell me w’at I’m here for, how about ‘nother question?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Qrow.”

He rolled his eyes at her. While she grew up in high society with manners and an unnecessary amount of cutlery at meals, Qrow certainly had some bad habits, he wouldn’t deny that. Even so, was she really surprised? Still, he finished chewing and swallowed his food before speaking again.

“Fine, fine, and I’m going to take the lack of an answer as a yes. So...why have you been out here on your own for a few days? Something happen?”

“That was more than one question.”

She was being needlessly particular, which made him suspicious that something had happened, but getting information out of Winter Schnee when she didn’t want to talk was like trying to get answers out of a brick wall. 

Qrow sighed and went back to eating, pointedly giving her a look to show that he was keeping his mouth closed while eating.

“It’s nothing important,” she finally answered. “Just some time away to get some thoughts in order.”

He wanted to know what thoughts she was talking about, but it was best to let Winter go at her own pace with such discussions. Trying to force out answers from her never worked. Sometimes he thought she acted like a skittish animal that was cornered and the implications concerned him. Even so, with no answers to go on, he could only trust that she was doing what she thought was best.

The rest of the meal passed in silence.

Once they finished, Winter cleaned up and told him to get his shoes and coat back on. Qrow, however, grumbled about the idea of going back outside once he finally warmed up and was comfortable inside. He was quite content to just stay near the fire and not freeze in the middle of nowhere. It was already cold in Atlas on a regular basis, but the sun had gone down, and it was bound to be colder now than it was when he was traveling to get here in the first place. 

Even so, Winter did not relent, and he begrudgingly made his way back toward the door and did as he was told before trudging outside and into the snow.

“Better be a good surprise to make it worth freezing my ass off.”

“Don’t be crude.”

“Darling, that’s not crude. I could have said—”

The sudden snowball to the face was enough to stop him.

“That’s grounds for war, Ice Queen.”

He dove at her and tried to tackle her into the snow, but Winter dodged and threw another snowball at him, once again hitting him. Qrow didn’t think this was a fair fight, not when it was on her home turf, but he wasn’t about to give up. No, he just needed to be smarter about this.

The next snowball was dodged and he bolted straight for her. Returning fire wouldn’t get the effect he wanted, and it was likely she would either dodge or use her glyphs to stop it. Winter had years to learn how to fight in snow and how to avoid it. It would just be a waste of time to hope she would slip up on something so well practiced. Instead he was trying to get closer. Each dodge he succeeded brought him just a little closer to her position, and once he was certain he could make the distance, he feigned right and jumped at her, tackling Winter to the ground.

“Hey!”

“All’s fair in love and war, Ice Queen, and you shot first.”

Lying in the snow wasn’t exactly pleasant—it was wet and cold—but Qrow couldn’t help but to be amused. He was able to beat Winter at her own game, and that was enough of a victory for him. Besides, he couldn’t complain about the view. The cold stained Winter’s cheeks a rosy color and her eyes looked particularly bright surrounded by all the white of the snow. 

She looked beautiful.

Qrow was about to lean in to kiss her, but a push on his shoulder had him giving her a questioning look instead.

“Look.”

“I have a pretty good view of something right here.”

Winter didn’t seem as impressed by his statement as he felt, and he watched as she pointed behind him, up to the sky.

Stars littered the night sky, more than he had ever thought possible in this frozen wasteland.

“I had hoped that the northern lights would start soon, but there’s no guarantee when the conditions will be right for it. Maybe another time.”

So, that’s what Winter had him come out here for. Even so, Qrow wasn’t disappointed. 

“I’m not about to complain,” he said. “Other than being cold.”

“And yet, I’m the one in the snow. You’re still on me. Get off.”

Qrow smirked, but did as she said and stood up before holding a hand out to help her up. Once she took it, he pulled her close and looked back up at the stars. Even if the conditions weren’t right for what Winter intended, this was still pretty nice by his standards. Maybe Atlas wasn’t all that bad. Not that he was about to admit that out loud. That and it was still too damn cold for his liking. His fingers were stiff, and his cheeks felt as though needles were poking him. It was time to go inside, if he had any say in the matter, so Qrow tried to lead Winter back toward the cabin.

“Let’s go inside and warm up.”

She looked up at him, and he paused. This time he wasn’t stopped as he moved to kiss her, pulling Winter closer in the process. 

It was cold, and they were covered in snow, but with the sky full of stars and the promise of a warm fire inside that he could curl up near with Winter, Qrow was certain he found his favorite place in Atlas.


End file.
